Diageo has announced the appointment of Vickie Sheriff as global communications director. Sheriff will report to Charlotte Lambkin, global corporate relations director, and be responsible for external communications and employee engagement. She starts on September 1.

Wallaces–TCB (Tennant Caledonian Breweries), formed after the completion of the acquisition of Wallaces Express, Scotland’s largest wines and spirits wholesaler, by C&C Group, has announced the following senior management appointments, reporting to chief executive, Brian Calder.

Pernod Ricard’s net sales for the first nine months of the 2013/14 financial year totalled €6,186 million – down 7% on the same period last year. The company says the results are in line with the first half-year and sales were stable excluding foreign exchange and group structure effects.

Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) chief executive Miles Beale, has criticised the UK government’s so-called ‘Alcohol Duty Escalator’ which has seen the tax on wine and spirits rise by up to 50%.

Stock Spirits Group has announced its intention to offer shares to institutional investors and float on the London Stock Exchange. It is expected the offer will complete next month. It hopes to raise £52 million.

Pernod Ricard CEO Pierre Pringuet was in Vietnam yesterday to sign a multi-partite agreement extending the International Center for Alcohol Policies’ (ICAP) pilot programme in its fight against drunk driving.

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One of the main attractions of social media is that it allows individuals and small businesses a platform from which they can shout loudly, without the need for the big-buck budgets that the global companies can call on.